New Restaurant Taking Over Popular Transient Spot in Fort Collins

Transients in Downtown Fort Collins will soon be pushed back closer to the Poudre River - or into Old Town - because a new restaurant is planned for Jefferson Park.

According to the Coloradoan, the owners of Rodizio Grill, The Melting Pot, and Social, Ryan Houdek and Ty Fulcher, bought Jefferson Park from Blue Ocean Enterprises earlier this year, and are planning to construct a 6,000-square-foot restaurant in its place.

Bar manager at Social, Raffi Jergerian, will be part-owner of the new concept.

Just across the street from the Fort Collins Rescue Mission, the privately-owned Jefferson Park is a popular place for the transient population to gather. Understandably, preliminary plans for the restaurant irritated homeless advocates. But as a developer, Houdek asks, "What do I do?" noting that his focus has become "creating a great opportunity for the community to engage."

Houdek and Fulcher haven't yet released the new restaurant's name or concept, but they did tell the Coloradoan they "want a concept that will appeal to all Fort Collins residents...Imagine a little paradise with shaded park and patio in the middle of Old Town."

Sounds good to me!

Construction is expected to begin in December or January, and it will open for business in late summer 2017.